Buffing wheel



May 30, 1944. e. R. CHURCHILL,

BUFFING WHEEL Filed Jan. 6, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATT RNEY May 30, 1944.

e. R. CHURCHILL BUFFING WHEEL Filed Jan. 6, 1943 3 She ets-Sheet 2JLMQLMM arrow/Er Ma 30, ,1944. i e. R. CHURCHILL BUFFING WHEEL FiledJan. 6, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ar 104m? QMQ'M Chew H TTOE/VE Y PatentedMay 30, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' 2,350,216 BUFFING WHEEL GeorgeR. Churchill, Hingham, Mass.

Application January 6, 1943, Serial No. 471,413

3 Claims. ,(Cl. 51-193) This'invention relates to a bufling wheel and toa method of making the same.

The invention has for one of its objects to produce a novel and improvedbufling wheel characterized by structure which enables its productionfrom materials salvaged from previously used buffing wheels which mightotherwise be discarded and which material in its pre-used state hasbecome partly saturated with buffing compound whereby when used toproduce the improved buffing wheel, the absorption of freshly appliedcompound is greatly facilitated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved clothbufiing wheel in which the material used in its production has others asmay hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the buffing wheel andin the method of making the same hereinafter described and particularlydefined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention,Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a used buffing wheel of the type fromwhich the material may be salvaged to produce the present bufilng wheel;Fig; 2 is an end view, partly in cross-section, illustrating the firststep in disassembling the used wheel to obtain the material therefrom;Figs. 3 and 4 are cross sectional views illustrating succeeding steps indis.- assembling the used wheel from which the material is to besalvaged; Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the salvaged web being unwound,ends of successive webs adhesively connected, and the extended webrewound on a roller; Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating themanner in which a plurality of superimposed webs are simultaneouslywithdrawn from the rolls and the multi-ply web thus formed beinglongitudinally folded and stitched; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of astrip of connected buffing fingers produced from the multi-ply foldedand stitched web; Fig. 8 is a front view of a completed buffing wheelembodying the present invention, some of the parts being broken away tomore clearly illustrate the structure; and Fig. 9 is a perspective viewillustrating a method of folding and superimposing the salvaged materialto produce a modified form of buffing finger.

In general the present invention contemplates a novel and improvedbuffing wheel of the radially extended finger type which may be producedfrom materials salvaged from previously used bufiing wheels, such forexample as those buiiing wheels of the type made up from a continuousstrip or web of cloth of substantial width which is rolled up to form aplurality of plies about a central opening and then doubled up widthwiseand gathered on its folded median line around the central opening. Suchprior wheels when worn down to a minimum diameter for use in theirexisting form contain a substantial amount of unused cloth, which stillretains some of the buffing compound which has been applied theretoduring its prior use. In accordance with the present invention, suchmaterial may be salvaged and re-used to produce the buffing wheels ofthe type illustrated and described in the United States patent to GeorgeR. Churchill, No.

2,146,284, issued February '7, 1939, which comprise a plurality ofradially extended fingers made up from folded lengths of cloth connectedtogether at one end preferably by wires as shown in said patent. Thebuffing wheel embodying the present invention, when made up frommaterial salvaged from prior buffs which have been partly saturated withbufling compounds during use, was found in practice to facilitate theabsorption of fresh buffing compound so that a minimum of time andeffort is consumed to prepare the present buffing wheel for use. Inpractice, in manufacturing the present buffing wheel from such priorcontinuous strip bufling wheels, I have discovered a practical andeconomical method of preparing and handling the salvaged material torender it readily and conveniently available for use in the presentmanufacturing process, including disassembly of the old bufling wheel ina simple and rapid manner as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 to 5,illustrating the manner of disassembling a used bufling wheel of thecontinuous web type from which the material is to be salvaged; lllrepresents a used buffing wheel made up from a continuous web of clothrolled up to form a plurality of plies about a central opening I2,folded up widthwise and gathered on its folded medial line around theopening. In the illustrated bufling wheel I0 the material is doubled upand folded widthwise about a' metal ring I4 and the two sides l6, ill ofthe folded web are held together in their assembled form by a circularrow of stitches 20. As illustrated, and as a result of previous use, theworn bufiing wheel I!) is impregnated or saturated with a buffingcompound 22 for a substantial distance from the peripheral edge thereof.

The first step in disassembling a worn buifing wheel of the illustratedtype, as shown in Fig. 2, is to cut off the stitching loops 24 on oneside only, preferably by abrasion, as by a grinding wheel 28, Theopposed sides l6, l8 may then be easily spread apart and the remainingthread 26 pulled out as clearly shown in Fig. 3. One of the side wallsl6, l8 may then be squeezed together as shown in Fig. 4 and the metalring I4 removed. This ring may be salvaged for re-use. The continuousweb of cloth 29 may now be unwound from its rolled up form, and, asshown in Fig. 5, in order to prepare the material in convenient form foreconomical handling for the manufacture of the present buifs inaccordance with the present method, the salvaged material is againrolled up upon a roller 30, the material being stretched out during thisoperation to cause the material to lie fiat against the roller ratherthan in the V-shaped form it assumes upon disassembly. One roller 30 mayand preferably will have continuous lengths of salvaged material 29 fromseveral used wheels wound thereon, and, as herein shown, the ends of thecontinuous lengths may be adhesively joined as illustrated at 32.

In practicing the present method of making a buff, a plurality ofrollers 30 having a supply of salvaged material 29 wound thereon arearranged in alignment, one behind the other, as shown in Fig. 6, witheach successive roller mounted progressively higher than the onepreceding it so that a plurality of webs may be conveniently withdrawnsimultaneously in superposed condition to form a multiple ply web orstrip of salvaged material having its longitudinal edges saturated orimpregnated with bufiing compound 22. In accordance with the presentinvention, the multiple ply web 35 thus formed is folded upon itselfalong a substantially medial longitudinal line and stitched together ina sewing machine, the needles of which are indicated at 36, to form oneor more rows of stitching 38, as illustrated. The stitching serves toreenforce and stiffen the fingers to render them capable of standing upunder hard usage. However, for some types of work where a relativelysoft buffing wheel is preferred, the stitching operation may beeliminated and the folded unstitchcd web used. Although the salvaged web35 is herein shown as being folded once to provide one closed side andone open side 42, in some instances the finger material may be foldedand overfolcled to form a finger having both sides closed or one sideclosed and the other side partly closed. as shown and described in myPatent No. 2,146,284, above referred to. Furthermore, in practicing thepresent method of folding and stitching the webs, some of the webs orportions thereof may be folded back upon themselves, as indicated at 43in F gs. 7 and 9. so as to be stitched back in this position during thesewing operation, thus effecting a more equal distribution of thepre-saturated material throughout the circumference of the completedwheel.

The folded and stitched web 35 thus formed is then cut up intosubstantially equal lengths of the desired size to form bufilng fingersM and the fingers are connected together at one end preferably by wires46 which are woven so as to form sheds into each of which an individualbufilng finger 44 is inserted and compressed "into compact form andfirmly held by the wires to form a continuous strip 48 of any desiredlength, a portion of such strip being shown in Fig. 'l. The continuousstrip 48 thus formed may thenbe cut up into suitable lengths accordingto the diameter or size'of the buffing wheel in which they are to beused. When a desired length of the strip of fingers 48 is cut from thecontinuous strip, the ends of the wires may be secured together to forma closed ring of radially extending buffing fingers. Thereafter, theclosed ring of radially extending bumng fingers is arrangedconcentrically with a metal or cardboard disk 50 and attached thereto bystaples 52 or other fastening means to form the complete wheel shown inFig. 8, ready for mounting upon an arbor and between the clamping disksof the usual bufling wheel support.

A modified form of the present buffing wheel made up from strips ofsalvaged and pre-saturated material is illustrated in Fig. 9 andcomprises a plurality of individual strips or webs 54 first folded oncelongtiudinally and then placed in superimposed form one upon the otherand stitched as shown to form a continuous strip 56 which may be cut upinto suitable lengths to form bufiing fingers, as above described.

In practice, best results and longest wear is usually obtained when'thedirection of rotation of the wheel is such as to present the closed side40 of the fingers to the work first, that is, with the open side 42trailing behind. However, it has been found that for some types of work,particularly where it is desired to reach into grooved or depressedportions thereof, the direction of rotation of the wheel with respect tothe work may be reversed so that the free or relatively loose ends 42 ofthe fingers engage the work first.

It will be observed that the peripheral edge of the material in itsoriginal form, as shown in Fig. l, is cut on the bias, as indicated bythe cross-hatching 58, to present a working edge which will not unravel,and that the present finger bulls are likewise arranged to present abias cut working edge, as indicated by the crosshattching 80, at rightangles to the original bias cu From the. above descriptionit will beobserved that the present bufllng wheel produced from material salvagedfrom a pre-used continuous web type 0! buff embodies a substantialamount of bufilng compound which facilitates the absorption of freshbufiing compound resulting in a more economical use of the latter andeffecting a reduction in the time and labor involved in the applicationthereof.

While the present method of disassembling and salvaging the material tobe used in the manufacture-of the present buffing wheel has been foundpractical from a manufacturing viewpoint, it will be understood thatother methods may be employed to achiev the same results. For example,after the stitching threads 20 and the metal ring I have been removed, aradial cut through one side of the rolled up material will enable thematerial to be extended and stretched out to form a length of folded webequal to the circumference of the original wheel..

Such folded and extended length may then be stitched longitudinally, asabove described,

and cut up into individual lengths to form buting fingers to besubsequently formed in a bufilng wheel in the manner above described.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention and the preferred mannerof practicing the present method have been herein illustrated anddescribed, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied inother forms and applied to other methods within the scope of thefollowing claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a bufllng wheel comprising a closedring of connected and radially extended fingers, each of said fingerscomprising a plurality of layers of relatively narrow strips of cloth,each of said fingers having at least one radial edge impregnated with abuffing compound for substantially the length thereof and having themedial lengthwis por-' tion of each finger unimpregnated throughout itslength, whereby to facilitate absorption of fresh buffing compound inpreparing said bumng wheel for use.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a builing wheel comprising a closedring of connected and radially extended fingers, each of said fingerscomprising a plurality of layers of relatively narrow strips of clothfolded longitudinally, each of said fingers having at least one radialedge impregnated with a bufiing compound for substantially the lengththereof and having the medial lengthwise portion of each fingerunlmpregnated throughout its length, whereby to facilitate absorption offresh bufling compound in preparing said bufiing wheel for use.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a bufiing wheel comprising a closedring of connected and radially extended fingers, each of said fingerscomprising a plurality of layers of relatively narrow strips of clothfolded longitudinally, each of said fingers having at least one row ofstitches extending longitudinally thereof, each of said strips alsohaving at least one radial edge impregnated with a bufilng compound forsubstantially the length thereof and having the medial lengthwiseportion of each finger unimpregnated throughout its length, whereby tofacilitate absorption of fresh bufllng compound in preparing saidbufilng wheel for use.

GEORGE R. CHURCHILL.

